Dear Olivia,

I feel like there is so much I haven't told you about! It's hard because the every day things don't seem special because I see them, every day. But then looking back a couple months from now, I know it'll be fascination because you probably won't be doing them anymore. You have a couple little quirks that I just absolutely adore!

The first is you always, I mean always, are holding on to a ridiculous amount of objects at one time. Whether that be food, or toys, or clothes, you are holding as many as you can. Mostly you are carrying around 4-5 little toys in your hands. I love watching you because you'll drop one and when you try and pick it up you'll drop another. You have throw many tantrums over the fact that you cannot hold all these toys at one time! ;) It is so stinking cute to watch you crawl around the house with the most random items. Your brother's shoes, or his underwear, or the remotes to the tv, and the list goes on and on. There is just something you love about having things in your hands!

You can be a little dramatic, you probably get that from me! ;) You love to be held. To this day you want to be held pretty much all the time. There are times when you are content on the ground, but mostly you just want to be in someone's arms. Honestly, I love cuddling with you, but sometimes I got to do the dishes, or take Bently potty, or get ready for work and you have to go on the ground. You immediately start the tantrum. It's hard to just get you on the ground because as soon as you see we're putting you down you start to arch your back and wail like a banshee. The best part of this whole situation is, you then start crawling around the house after us. I'm sorry to say but it's actually kind of funny. I'll be running from room to room and you bring your sobbing hysterical baby butt crawling after me, it look pretty dramatic to be honest! I love it! It's pretty stinking cute!

You recently have start to love peek-a-boo. You will hide behind something and then grin when you look back around. It's pretty darn adorable!

You also give big wet slobbery open mouth kisses now. I cherish every single one I get! I cannot get enough of those sweet baby kisses. You won't do them if we ask most of the time, we have to catch them randomly! :)

You are a climber already. It's been quite the change for me because Bently never climbed or did anything too crazy. He's always been pretty mellow. But you, you see something and you go for it. Today, for example, your dad was feeding you m&m's. (that sinker) I had you on my lap and we were reading a bed time story. But for some reason, you were having none of that. Finally I put you on the floor and finished reading the story with Bently. Suddenly I look around for you and find you eating M&M's. You had crawled on top of Bently's green plastic chair, and had reached up on the end stand for those M&M's. You looked so pleased with yourself and happy. I then had to wrestle a total of 5 M&M's from your baby hands. Let me tell you, there are some impressive grasping skills there! ;)

You are the most adorable baby and I love you more than words can describe. I can't believe you will be one next month! I have no idea where the time has gone! I'm going to relish in all the moments before you turn the big ONE!

Love,
Mom

Dear Olivia,

Today your Dad woke me up from my nap by throwing you on the bed with me. (Okay so he didn't physically throw you.) For the next 15 minutes or so it was Mommy and Olivia time! Seriously we spent so much time giggling together! You just thought I was hilarious and laughed at everything I did! I swung you around, threw you up in the air, kissed you, blew raspberries, and so much more. You are becoming more and more fun by the minute! (Not that you weren't fun before) I love watching you get older and grow and explore more! :)


You have started this thing where you HATE your car seat, high chair, and being changed or having your diaper changed. I think it's because now you can move and get yourself around that you hate to be in one place. You always want to be going! You also stand up all the time now! You will pull yourself up and it's adorable to watch how proud you get of yourself! :)


I love you beautiful little girl. I wish I could portray in these letters how much I love you! How adorable and funny you are! You are just the sweetest little baby and I love you more than I could ever put into words. I can't wait to watch you grow some more! I can't wait to teach you things and be able to do girly things like paint your toes! I'm totally planning on doing that this summer by the way! ;)


Love,
Mom

Dear Olivia,

You got a tooth! It actually came through on your Aunt Stacey's wedding, May 9, 2014! It's about time too! Just today I realized I am beginning to see it! Before I could just feel that it had cut through the gums but now there is physical proof it's there! :) It's a little bittersweet. You are getting older and it's hard to watch! But it's a great thing too!


I love you beautiful girl!


Love,
Mom

Dear Olivia,

Your vocabulary is pretty impressive. You say 4 words. Which for a 9 month old is pretty dang cool. You of course say Mama and Dada. I love watching you reach for me saying mama! :) You also say uh oh. And you now say bye bye. It's more like bah bah but it's pretty close! And you wave! So stinking adorable! I love watching you wave your little hand up and down!


Today I had you in the bath tub and you would stand up, purposely fall down, and say uh oh, laugh, and do it all again. It was the cutest thing ever! I just sat there and laughed right along with you! You are so stinking adorable I can barley stand it!


Love,
Mom

Dear Olivia and Bently,

Real Life. That is what I am living. Well I guess that's what we're all living. :) When I imagined growing up, getting married, having children, I expected the fairy tale. Adoring husband, perfectly behaved children, white picket fence, of course I would be a stay at home mom, and the house would be spotless and smell of chocolate chip cookies. This is not my reality. My reality right now, today, is as follows. Husband is sick, throwing up every hour or so. Livvy is teething and is crying and wanting to be held almost constantly. Also not napping. Bently is adorable and is such a trooper for taking the back seat. The house is a mess. Seriously. Dishes are stacked everywhere, the family room floor needs to be vaccumed, badly. The bathroom is starting to look like a public bathroom (eww), and the list could go on and on. The kia needs an oil change, but we're out of money for this pay period. I am trying to clean and cook and take care of 2 crying kids (yes one of those is daddy! ;) Plus working full time. I am currently living off of 4 hours of broken sleep and it's making me extra emotional! I sat here at work thinking of all the things I had to do and feeling very overwhelmed. I suffer with comparing my life to others. I want that picture perfect life I dreamed about as a child. I want to be home all the time with my babies, I want to buy a house and fill it to the brim with memories. As I sat, wallowing in self pity, I realized, this is real life. No one, NO ONE, has the perfect life. All lives are filled with trials and sorrows. I guess what I am trying to say, is when you grow up, get married, have babies, don't be surprised if it's not exactly how you pictured it. If you don't have the nicest furniture, or a full set of matching dishes, or a house. Don't feel overwhelmed when the dishes pile up in the sink and the children are screaming and you make waffles for dinner because frankly, you barley had time to do that. Because I learned today, I need to enjoy these moments. The moments when my kids are little, where I am a 911 dispatcher and have the opportunity, every single day to help someone. The time where your Dad gets to be home, to share in special memories with you. There is so much beauty in my life. Bently and Olivia, you guys are a big majority of that beauty. You and your Dad. You guys are my happiness, my happily ever after. You make every single day amazing. I have so much to be grateful for and I truly feel like I am living my fairy tale. Sure it has it's downs and twist and turns, but how boring would your story be if it was perfect? I guess this long rambling letter is just to tell you, life isn't always perfect. It hardly ever turns out how you plan, and that is ok. Because you can do hard things. You can overcome and move on, and become a better person because of what you've been through. Trust in the Lord and his plan and his timing and all will be okay in the end. I promise.


I love you both so much. Thank you for your smiles and endless hugs and kisses. I can't get enough of my adorable babies!


Love,
Your very tired and rambling Mom.

Dear Olivia,

Yesterday we were walking around Target when your naughty brother dropped something he shouldn't have been playing with and exclaimed, "uh oh!" Without missing a beat you copied him with your own cute little "uh oh". It may have been the most adorable thing I have ever heard in my entire life! The rest of Target we all took turns getting you to say "uh oh"! It was seriously too cute for words!

Love,
Mom

Dear Olivia,

We celebrated your very first Easter today! You missed the egg dying yesterday due to your napping through it. This morning we did the egg hunt and you were really too little to find eggs so you mostly played on the floor while Bently hunted. You loved chewing on the plastic eggs though! You looked so cute holding them in your hands gnawing away! ;) Speaking of which, I think your first tooth might finally be coming it! :) It's getting so close! I can actually feel the bump now! But back to Easter, you got a toy for your first Easter! You love it, and unfortunately so does your brother! He is constantly taking it away from you poor girl. We're still working on the sharing thing! ;)


You are getting so much closer to crawling on all fours. You can actually crawl on all fours, but you only do it for a short while before you drop to your tummy and army crawl. I always get excited when I see you crawling on all fours! It makes me realize how soon the day will come when you'll be walking! Your Dad and I were actually talking about it today! We both can't imagine it right now but I know it'll come soon enough! You are only 3 months away from being one which is completely crazy to me! Time has gone by too fast! You are so big! Where the heck did my baby go? To be honest I am excited as much as I am sad that you are growing up! I'm excited for summer where hopefully both you and Bently will be running around like crazy people. I have been secretly propping you up to standing so that you can gain the leg muscles required to walk. Bently walked at like 13-14 months and I really want you to walk sooner! Don't tell your Dad! He's dreading having 2 walkers! ;)


You have gotten so giggly lately! Seriously you laugh all the time and I love it! I cannot get enough of your adorable giggle!


Love,
Mom